German biathlon athlete and three-time Gold Medalist MICHAEL GREIS, 36, "announced his retirement on Thursday" (DPA, 12/6). ... ROGER FEDERER remains the highest-paid European athlete making CHF 54M ($58M) annually. Federer is currently on an exhibition tour through South America for which he receives CHF 12M ($12.9M) (BLICK, 12/5). ... South Korean-born U.N. Secretary General BAN KI-MOON "will receive the highest medal given by the IOC for his contribution to the Olympic movement." He will be awarded the Olympic Order, in gold, which was established in '75 (YONHAP, 12/6). ... Great Britain Olympic champion JESSICA ENNIS has revealed that she would "love to start her own fashion brand," citing ALEXANDER MCQUEEN and VICTORIA BECKHAM "as style inspiration." Ennis said, "I'd love to start my own fashion label -- whether it's collaborating with [a sportswear brand] or doing the more fashion-y side of things" (London TELEGRAPH, 12/6). ... Motorsports governing body FIA unveiled that the presenters of Friday night's FIA Gala Prize-Giving at the Ciragan Place in Istanbul will be former Red Bull Racing and McLaren F1 driver DAVID COULTHARD and Turkish broadcaster and author ECE VAHAPOĞLU (FIA). ... The German Basketball Federation (DBB) has appointed FRANK MENZ as head coach of the men's national team. Menz was previously in charge of the German U20 and A2 national basketball teams (DBB). ... EVEN PELLERUD has been reappointed as Norway women's national football team head coach for the Women's Euro 2013. Pellerud led Norway to victory at the 1995 Women's World Cup (UEFA).

NBA NAMES: Li-Ning and NBA All-Star DWYANE WADE announced that footwear and accessory designer ALEJANDRO INGELMO has been named the creative consultant for special projects for WADE, the new athletic and lifestyle footwear and apparel collection launched in October. As chief brand officer, Wade personally selected Ingelmo as his first design hire to collaborate on two sneakers for WADE (Li-Ning). ... German NBA Dallas Mavericks player DIRK NOWITZKI said that he "would like to participate at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games." Nowitzki said, "It would be awesome if I could be part of the Rio Olympics in 2016" (SID, 12/5).

Championship club Wolverhampton midfielder JAMIE O'HARA "will close his Twitter account after sparking a social media fury on Wednesday following a claim about his hard life as a professional footballer." O'Hara, who is thought to be paid about £35,000 ($56,200) a week, posted a tweet "where he appeared bemoan his life situation, longing for easier days on £100 ($160) a week." Below are O'Hara's string of tweets (London DAILY MAIL, 12/6).

"Things were so much easier when I earned 100pound a week on wts #stress."

"Why do people think cos I earn good money I don't have bills to pay we all pay tax an we have mortgages to pay, some people are deluded"

"Had a good think last night and today is my last day on Twitter. I'll be starting a private Facebook account and anyone who is a genuine fan can send me a friend request.

Too many trolls on here with nothing nice to say, sorry to people that actually like following me but I'll let you know what my Facebook account is.

Thanks to my real fans on here. It's a shame that there's too many a******** would love to see some of them face to face because I'm sure they wouldn't say it to my face, they'd probably ask for a picture sums up society these days."